


His Name Is Hartley

by canthelpmyselves



Series: Beaten To The Post [5]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Jealousy, M/M, Mob Boss Leonard Snart, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 09:12:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17363195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canthelpmyselves/pseuds/canthelpmyselves
Summary: Mob boss Len Snart isn't pleased to find out Barry has a crush.





	His Name Is Hartley

“Len?”

Len tilted his head to the side as he stared at the surprised young man. “Scarlet. Was beginning to think you weren’t coming home.”

Barry tossed his jacket onto the couch and crossed his arms. “What are you doing in my flat?”

“I was bored,” he said, shrugging one shoulder. “You’ve been ignoring me all month.”

Barry rolled his eyes fondly and plopped down on the couch to kick off his shoes, then swing his legs up onto the seat. “It’s not ignoring if we had no plans,” he pointed out. “Besides, haven’t you been in Gotham all month? A consulting job, I think.”

“Yes,” Len drawled, eyeing the brunette greedily while Barry rubbed at his tired eyes. “And not a single phone call from my favorite neighbor.”

Barry snorted. “I’m your only neighbor until the owner finds residents for the other two flats.”

Len bit back a smirk. Barry still didn’t know he wasn’t a security consultant, but the notorious, faceless Captain Cold, head of the largest mob family in Central. Len preferred to work from the shadows, so his face and true name were one of the best kept secrets in the world. Only his right hand man, Mick, knew who Captain Cold was.

Of course, Barry also didn’t know that Len was their building’s owner and he wasn’t about to move anyone else into the building who might be a potential threat to his pursuit of the young scientist. From the moment he laid eyes on the newest physicist at Star Labs, he’d been smitten. Barry wasn’t just beautiful, but smart, sweet and effortlessly graceful. From the moment Len saw him smile, he had vowed to have the young man as his own. He didn’t give a damn about the 17 year age gap, their moral differences or even whether or not Barry was gay (he was, thankfully). Len was willing to work around anything to make Barry his.

“So, anything new and exciting happen while I was gone?” Len asked. Mick had assured him that Barry rarely went anywhere but work and home. He had gone out twice with friends from work, but that was a group thing.

Barry opened his eyes and smiled dreamily. Len immediately tensed up. A soft sigh set him further on edge. 

“I met someone,” Barry admitted. He turned his head to look at Len and smiled. “His name is Hartley and he’s wonderful.” Barry sat up and shoved a throw pillow behind his back. “He’s a theoretical physicist who works in the lab above mine. He’s brilliant and cute and has a dry sense of humor. And he’s so brave! His family is like super rich and disowned him for being gay, but he doesn’t care. I mean, I was scared to death to come out to my family and they’re supportive. I can’t imagine how brave you have to be to come out knowing that you’ll lose everything!”

Len forced a placid smile to his face. “Sounds like a great guy,” he mumbled.

Barry nodded his head enthusiastically. “He is! I mean, at first he was a bit of a dick, but that’s just because he’s so used to people treating him bad. Once we got to know one another, he was completely different! He’s so romantic and sweet.” Barry blushed and looked down shyly. “He treats me like I’m priceless. I can’t wait for you to meet him, Len.”

Len set aside the mug he’d been holding and stood up. “I look forward to it,” he said casually. “Well, now that you know I’m back, I’m heading to bed. Long trip, you know.” 

Len walked to the door as Barry jumped up to follow. He opened the door and paused. “You know I knew a Hartley once. Hartley Simmons.”

Barry shook his head. “Not the same guy. Mine’s Hartley Rathaway.”

Len gave another placid smile, even though the ‘mine’ part of Barry’s statement cut like a knife. “Good. The one I knew was a real bastard. See you later, Scarlet.”

“Bye, Len. Glad you’re back safe,” Barry said happily.

Len stepped into the hall and waited for Barry to shut and lock the door before heading up to his own flat. Once he was certain he was out of earshot he pulled out his phone and dialed. “Mick? I need to know everything there is to know about Hartley Rathaway from STAR Labs,” he growled.

“New player?”

“Of sorts,” Len said, his free hand clenching in anger and jealousy. Mick was silent for a moment before sighing heavily.

“This about the kid?”

Len growled under his breath. “Everything, Mick. I want to know who his family is, friends, hobbies, allergies, favorite fucking cereal. And I want to know in 24 hours.”

“Okay. Okay. I’ll look into him. You know, you should just fuck the kid already, then you wouldn’t be angsting like a fucking teenager.”

Len hung up and let himself into his flat. He tossed his phone onto the table and leaned back against the door, counting to one hundred and back. He need to be calm if he was going to plan. No one was taking his Barry from him.


End file.
